Equinor confirms bid for major offshore wind platform on Scottish coast
Energy firm Equinor has bid for a new floating offshore wind farm to be built off the coast of Scotland as it continues to develop its North Sea energy facilities.
The firm has already floated wind turbines at Hywind, located off the northeast coast of Scotland, that are now generating energy.
Equinor's bid follows the closure of the ScotWind Leasing process on Friday, with final offers from all firms expected by no later than 5pm on that day.
ScotWind was launched in June 2020 and was the first round of seabed leasing for offshore wind in Scottish waters in over a decade. Scottish Power and Shell put forward their own tender for a floating offshore wind farm last week.
The sector is expected to be a significant area of green growth this decade as technology costs fall and the floating tech could prove particularly cost-effective in areas with deep waters where fixed offshore wind is not feasible.
The Scottish coast is seen as an ideal location for offshore wind investment thanks to the Scottish government’s renewable energy ambitions and geographic considerations.
“Equinor has the experience and capabilities necessary to develop the next full-scale floating offshore wind farm in Scotland following Hywind Scotland,” said Jens Økland, Equinor’s senior vice president for business development in renewables.
“By leveraging our offshore execution capabilities and our leading position in floating offshore wind, we are ready to create more long-term value and drive the industrialisation of floating offshore wind further. We see floating wind as an enabler for the Scottish Government to achieve its offshore wind targets and help reach its ambitious net zero target of 2045.”
The Scottish government has committed to reduce emissions to net zero by 2045, one of the most ambitious targets globally. To support this ambition, they have set a target to deliver up to 11GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.
Equinor said it also plans to team up with SSE Thermal to jointly develop a new low-carbon power station, which could become one of the UK’s first power stations equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.
Once constructed, the Peterhead CCS Power Station would meet around 15 per cent of the UK government’s 10 million tonne target for carbon captured by 2030.
Norwegian offshore wind developer Magnora Offshore wind also confirmed on Monday that it submitted application for two zones in Scotland together with TechnipFM. All the companies involved in the bid won’t find out if they were successful until early next year.
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